Dear Members and Ministry Partners at Englewood:

Here is the inside scoop on what is happening at our Base Camp.

Women’s Ministry Easter Basket Outreach:
The women’s ministry team is gearing up for preparations for our church-wide Easter Basket Outreach. On February 14th, we will receive the details on all the food donations needed in order to put these baskets together. They will then be distributed to families in our surrounding communities the Saturday prior to Easter.

Connect Wednesdays: A Time For Community and Learning:
Even in the atmosphere of a tough economy we want to do everything possible to serve our families at CCC-Englewood. There is a great all-you-can-eat dinner starting at 5:00pm. We have reduced the prices of our Connect Dinners to $3 per adult and $2 per kid in order to help our families get a respite from cooking at home. Breaking bread together is a wonderful way to get to know other members of the church. I had the marvelous opportunity to get to meet some of the kids at church, along with their parents, during this meal. We want to encourage you to come be a part of our Connect Wednesdays.
At 6:30pm we have AWANA and Youth Ministry programs for kids, and Adult Bible study. Pastor Gary Brown is leading a study of the book of James. This past Wednesday, I also had the opportunity to meet a wonderful couple that has been attending Englewood since Cherry Hills sold us the building. I am available twice a month to meet with anyone in the congregation to hear your thoughts, ideas, hopes, and aspirations for the ministry here at Englewood. Please contact Dalyce Young (dyoung@coloradocommunity.org ) to sign up to be a part of one of these groups.

Prayer Summit:
Our prayer summit is this weekend at CCC. We will be praying for our city and beyond as well as taking sometime to pray for those needing healing during our service on January 31st. Our staff and deacons will be available to pray for anyone who is desirous of seeking God’s healing power to touch their lives.

Haiti Relief Work Update:
Please keep praying for Scott and Laura Powell as they continue to provide hands-on leadership in the efforts to help the people of Haiti. Scott is still in Haiti working with a team of engineers to determine which buildings are safe and which ones pose a danger to the people. He is also coordinating efforts to provide people with clean water and food. Scott just sent this update from Haiti. I will see if we can also post in on the website for others to read….
Hello everyone,

Just a quick text-only update from Haiti, since we have a (very slow)
internet connection now. It's hard to fathom the magnitude of this
event. Driving around the disaster zone every day, one can get
overwhelmed by all the need everywhere. Whereas in the past, EMI has
only sent one small team to such disasters, we are now mobilizing our
third and planning for a fourth(!)response team to Haiti.

I am writing from Petit Goave, a medium-sized town on the southern
peninsula. We've been feeling aftershocks about four times a day
here. People are sleeping underneath sheets strung over mattresses
lying right in the streets because they are afraid to spend the night
under any amount of concrete that could potentially crush them.
Unfortunately, they are still in danger from traffic in the streets
and their damaged houses on the verge of collapse (which they hesitate
to leave because of widespread fear of looting). Camps for internally
displaced people (IDPs) have shrunk in Port au Prince as people move
back to live with their families in the rural areas. IDP camps here
in the hinterlands have been steadily growing. UN and military
presence is required at every food and shelter distribution because
mob mentalities take over when the remaining supplies dwindle and
people fear they'll get left out.

Today, I talked with a doctor at a clinic outside one of the IDP camps
we're working at in Leogan, one of the worst-hit areas. He says their
flow of trauma cases has finally started to slow, but they're seeing
increasing cases of diarrhea, scabies, and tuberculosis. Many fear a
"second wave of death" from such diseases that stem from cramped
living conditions with poor water, sanitation, and hygiene. At this
particular camp, we're working with Samaritan's Purse and Tearfund to
install a water purification system, build latrines, and promote
hygiene education. Our structural assessment team has focused on
"reopening" clinics and hospitals throughout the disaster zone to
increase the availability of treatment space for medical teams working
hard to stem the tide of sickness and death.

In addition to activities like these, our teams have master-planned
camps for displaced peoples, bound up wounds, trained non-engineers
how to assess the safety of their own structures, prayed with
Haitians, plumbed bladders and chlorinators, and shared our
testimonies. Our two EMI teams and eight volunteers have been salt
and light serving the Haitian people throughout the disaster zone in
partnership with Samaritan's Purse, Food for the Hungry, Haiti for
Christ, Tearfund, Compassion International, Haiti Arise, Lifeline
Christian Ministries, Mission to Haiti, Acted, World Concern, Project
Concern, the US Marines, Blue Ridge Ministries, and many others.

We are generally healthy, but pray for our teams' health. Waterborne
diseases may be giving way to airborne diseases, and we need strong
immune systems to keep going.

We are generally unified, but pray for unity. Stressful conditions
lend themselves to frustration and dissent.

We are generally seeking God, but pray that we seek... and even thirst
after Him even more. Our strength and wisdom are in God alone.

I am blessed every time Laura tells me how much you all are praying
for us and how much you've taken care of her in my absence. We may
not get around to individually thanking each of you immediately, but
please know that you have our unending thanks. God is good.

For His Glory,
-Scott, from Petit Goave, Haiti
Joaquin Vargas is heading back to Haiti this weekend to work with local ministry partners in the rebuilding efforts. Both of our 5 + 5 missionary are extremely grateful for your prayers and financial support of their efforts to help alleviate the suffering and devastation in this country.

Costa Rica Relief Work Update:

About a year ago, I was in Costa Rica with a team of Engineers from EMI and contractors from CCC in order to help in the relief and rebuilding efforts of the Village of Yorkin that was devastated by a flood. I am headed down this week to meet with leaders of the village in order to discuss the completion of the health clinic as well as coordinate the relocation efforts of the village buildings away from the riverbank. Please pray that myself and our team of volunteers from Costa Rica will be safe and productive in our efforts.

Extreme Makeover – Summer Service Opportunities:
Our staff is exploring and praying into the possibility of seeing how our Englewood campus can focus this summer on serving people in our community by helping them with home repairs or assisting organizations with repair needs. We are dreaming about doing three projects, at the end of June, July, and August, where we would encourage our church members to get out on a Friday and Saturday to help serve in the community. On that Sunday we would have a Transformation Service that would allow participants to share their testimonies and celebrate God’s goodness. I will be sharing more about this with the congregation and praying for God’s lead for this summer. If you are interested in helping out with this please let me know.

Spanish Bible Study Coming Soon:
On February 17th, we will be having a Spanish Bible Study on Wednesday evenings from 6:30pm to 8:00pm in the Chapel at Englewood. Please let your Spanish-speaking friends know about this ministry opportunity, and invite them to our Bilingual service on Sundays at 11:30am in the Summit Hall West.
Spanish Conversational Class:
We will have a Spanish Conversational Class offered to help anyone who desires to learn Spanish to enhance his or her impact or customer service goals in the market place. The details will be printed in the bulletin.

Deacons Meeting:
Our next meeting scheduled is for Wed. Feb. 17th from 6:30pm to 8:00pm. At this meeting, each Deacon will be bringing a list of ministry dreams that they discern is what God could be placing on our hearts as part of our campus DNA. We will then pray through the suggestions to try to discern what God wants for us to become and do as a congregation.
Facilities Update:

At this time there is not a serious offer on the table for leasing or purchasing the facilities. Although there have been several ministries interested in both, we do not have an offer at this time. I will keep you posted when new developments arise.
Thank you for your continued prayers for and support of Base Camp Englewood.

Pastor Hugo